Outdoor Tales and Trails

I have one more Lake Vermillion fishing story to pass on and I have saved the best for last. Before I tell you that story, I want to tell you about the Outdoor Tales and Trails Facebook page. If you haven’t visited, please do so. I have used that Facebook page as a teaser of sorts to drive reading traffic back to the paper which, after all, is what makes all of this possible. Today I am going in reverse, so to speak, and direct you to visit the Face – book page. The fishing story I am about to tell you is all true so after you read it, please join me online to watch the video and see the actual event as it unfolded in and out of my boat. My reaction is real and unrehearsed. On this outing I was fishing with “Doc Roger” and no, he’s not a real doctor. I met him one afternoon as I fished by his dock, which is how he got his nickname. We struck up a conversation and the next thing you know, he’s one of my net-men. When he stepped into the boat on Lake Vermilion, I gave him the crash course on “the code,” which is what he needed to do in the event that I hooked up with a fish. Reel your line in quickly to get it out of the way. Grab the remote and start the camera. Grab the dipnet and dip my musky. I had him repeat the above, verbatim, to make sure that there were no misunderstandings. We headed out to fish only after he re – cited everything back to me without error. I cannot remember the exact night this happened because all time on the water sim –

ply ran together, but I won’t forget what happened when I finally did set the hook on a nice musky. It seemed like only seconds after I yelled “fish on” that Doc was standing be – side me, waiting with the dipnet. Because he had passed the verbal training test, I assumed that he completed all of the required steps of the code. The Vermilion musky drought was over and my photo session with the fish was going well until I turned my back to get a length measurement. I heard a huge splash and when I turned around, Doc Roger was gone. I thought that maybe a wave had knocked him o balance and into the water. I had my hands on a big musky but was growing concerned because Doc wasn’t coming to the surface. When he finally bobbed out of the water, he grabbed the side of the boat with one hand and in his other hand was his fishing rod. As quick as the panic struck so did the relief that Doc was okay. He had jumped into the water after his fishing rod slipped out of the boat. What and how did all of this happen? As soon as I had yelled “fish on” Doc Roger set his rod down, started the camera and went back to his rod which was now snagged in the rocks. He set his rod back down, grabbed the net and successfully dipped the fish. Doc Roger is an adequate net-man, a great diver, a good swimmer but he does need to work on following “the code.” What’s really important is that he is good company in the boat. *You can watch the video on Facebook to see of how it all happened on Outdoor Tales and Trails with Dave Beck. While you are there, say hello and leave a comment. Didn’t get enough Dave this week? Visit “Outdoor Trails and Tales with Dave Beck” on Facebook for photos and video of Dave’s adventures. You can share your own photos and video with him there as well, or by emailing him at [email protected] Also, check out OTT content on Instagram @ thepiercecountyjournal

BY DAVE BECK